


Rest

by orange_cheetah



Category: Durarara!!
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-04-03
Updated: 2017-04-03
Packaged: 2018-10-14 11:31:49
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,566
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10535598
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orange_cheetah/pseuds/orange_cheetah
Summary: Shizuo finds Izaya in the hospital, and somehow they don't leave it in a wreck.





	

Orihara Izaya groaned and glared at the box of take-out for what must’ve been the hundredth time in 10 hours. He had thrown it into the trash can soon after he began throwing up, where it had sat quietly, peeking out slightly as if mocking him.

He had resorted to eating take-out only because he’d been having a hectic week, and he didn’t want to spend too much time eating at a restaurant. After all, what if something interesting happened while he was out? He’d have to rely on a single phone to carry out his research, and it definitely isn’t as efficient as his usual method of using two computers simultaneously.

Yet he had to eat - if he was weakened by hunger it might set him back even further. So he had chosen take-out, resolving to treat himself at Russian Sushi once the massive exchanges of information cease.

And that very decision has given me food poisoning, Izaya smirked bitterly, wiping his mouth with the back of his hand, an action he had quickly gotten used to. What a nuisance.

This is why I hate take-outs…

一一***一一

Izaya spent another four hours retching in the toilet until he grudgingly decided that he might need Shinra’s assistance after all. He was hoping that the god awful nausea would pass soon if he persisted, but it had been a grand total of 14 hours since the first damned bite. He wasn’t even throwing up anything of substance anymore, the contents of his stomach completely emptied. He had tried eating and drinking, but anything that went down immediately came back up. He was glad that Namie had the day off, or he’d have to deal with her sharp remarks too.

Plus he’s tired of kneeling on the cold bathroom floor, head bent over the toilet bowl, humiliated and feeling the absolute worst.

He got up shakily and flushed the toilet, despite there being not much bile in the bowl. He dragged himself into his office space, one hand against the wall for support. Walking to Shinra’s was definitely out of the question in his state.

Izaya thought back to the last few days. Had he even slept? He definitely hadn’t eaten properly - that was why he had gotten the take-out in the first place. He spared another lightheaded glance at the accursed box.

Combined with the last 14 hours of puking, to say that Orihara Izaya wasn’t in his perfect form would have been an understatement, but he’d never admit that he was weak in any shape or form.

He stumbled to his desk, gritting his teeth, then reached for his phone and selected Shinra’s number. The informant cleared his throat in an attempt to sound at least a little normal, wincing at the pain. The underground doctor picked up fairly fast, and Izaya was a little relieved.

“Orihara-kun?”

“Hey, Shinra.” He winced at the sound of the voice he barely recognized as his own. Izaya’s vision blurred, and he hastily grabbed the edge of his working desk for support. Need to make this quick.

“I’m- Hey, are you okay?” There was an obvious tinge of worry in Shinra’s voice as he changed his sentence, and Izaya struggled to say his own.

“I’m afraid I… might need a fav-”

Izaya’s eyelids fluttered close, his body unable to withstand the stress he’d forced himself to endure for the past few hours and he lost his grip on the phone. Strength finally leaving him, he swayed to one side and collapsed onto the floor, the phone clattering near his head.

“Orihara-kun? Hey, Orihara-kun, are you still there!?”

一一***一一

Kishitani Shinra lowered his phone and looked at it worriedly. Izaya had sounded terrible, like his throat was going to fall apart.

He sighed and glanced at the scenery passing outside the bus window. Right when he needed to travel to another city too… He had been meaning to tell Izaya that, but he had been distracted by how awful he sounded.

Celty had pointed out that there was no reason for her to go along on his medical errand, and he’d found that he couldn’t disagree with her. It hurt his heart to leave her behind, but her reasoning might just had saved Izaya’s life. Shinra didn’t want to burden Celty, but he had no choice. Izaya might be an asshole, but he was his friend nonetheless, and he didn’t really liked the idea of his friend dying.

He resumed his conversation with Celty, his fingers flying over the on-screen keyboard.  
(Ah, sorry, I got a call.)

[It’s fine, though you did have me worried, stopping that suddenly. Who was it from?]

(Orihara-kun. Speaking of which, Celty, could you do me a favor and check up on him?)

[Huh? Why?] Celty would’ve been tilting her head in puzzlement if she had one, and Shinra could imagine the irregular puff of shadow emanating from her neck at his request.

(He sounded like he was dying.) He paused, musing the actual percentage of untruth in his statement. (Or half-dead~) The underground doctor added.

[Shinra! Don’t joke about stuff like that!]

(Thing is, Celty, I’m not even sure whether I’m joking or not. I think he passed out in the middle of our conversation.)

Celty paused as she read the text. He passed out? She hesitated a little, sighed inwardly before typing her reply.

[Maybe he was just interrupted, but alright.]

Shinra smiled gratefully. (You’re the best, Celty! As usual! Oh man how I wished you’re with me-)

一一***一一

Celty Sturluson sighed again, a little happily this time as she read the texts Shinra sent. He had went straight back to gushing about her in a most embarrassing way. [I’ll keep you updated.] She promised as a temporary goodbye and put her PDA away.

The headless rider positioned her trademark cat helmet on her neck and left the apartment with a roar from Shooter. Celty didn’t have a lot of love for the Shinjuku-based informant, but neither did she actually want him to die. How many do want him dead, actually? Celty mused. There’s most probably no shortage of people with dangerous intents towards him.

Speaking of people who wants Izaya dead, wasn’t that Shizuo and his boss? She was tempted to stop and chat with her friend, but Shinra had trusted her and she didn’t want to let him down.

Celty sped up, hoping that she won’t run into any traffic cops.

一一***一一

“Hey, Shizuo, wasn’t that your friend?”

Heiwajima Shizuo looked up and turned his head towards his boss/friend Tanaka Tom. “The headless rider,” the debt collector added.

“Celty?” Shizuo looked a little confused, slightly down that he’d missed a chance to chat with his friend.

“Guess you didn’t see her then,” Tom said, putting his hands in his pockets. “Well, sorry you had to do so much work today, it must’ve been tiring for you.”

“Not really…” Shizuo was always touched at the way his senpai looked out for him. But then, it had been quite a tiring day, with no one handing over payment willingly. 

Ikebukuro’s strongest was forced to go on a rampage more than usual today, and it was annoying. He looked at the setting sun, eager to go home as Tom answered a call.  
When he turned back however, Tom looked sheepish. “Who was that?” Shizuo asked, curious.

“The thing is, Shizuo… The higher-ups have a job they need people to fill up for… It’s ok if you refuse! I’ll find someone else!” Tom added hastily, knowing that Shizuo had worked hard the whole day.

“…What kind of job is it?”

“Surprisingly enough, it’s at a hospital. One of the higher-ups knows someone in the staff. They need a volunteer to collect insurance information from the patients as they’re running low on personnel - most of them went out on an errand together and got their vehicle damaged, and have to spend the night staying in another town. Doesn’t seem to be a very taxing job to be honest,” Tom mused. “Of course, the choice is yours.”

“I’ll take it.”

Shizuo knew that it wouldn’t be easy for Tom to find someone else - Vorona was away in Russia attending to some business (no doubt relating to the mafia), and it was getting late, so not many people would be willing to help. Besides, like Tom said, it didn’t sound like a very demanding job, and he might be able to relax.

“We’ll head to the hospital after our shift, then.”

He just hoped that he won’t break anything by accident.

一一***一一

Shizuo trudged through the hospital hallway tiredly, one hand rubbing his eyes. One more corridor to go… I can go home after this…

Shizuo had been assigned to the left wing of the hospital and given a card to let the patients know he wasn’t some random stranger asking for information on their insurance. 

Before they separated, Tom had promised to treat him to Russian Sushi soon, feeling a little guilty that Shizuo still couldn’t get some rest. Shizuo reassured him that he’ll be fine.  
There were a lot of patients, but they’d been cooperative, which was a nice change for Shizuo. It’d been too peaceful, almost as if there’s going to be a catch.

The nurse at the station noticed him and smiled as he handed him the information he compiled so far. “Ah, only this room is occupied at the moment, aren’t you lucky~ He just woke up, though, so he might still be a little blurry,” she greeted softly and pointed at Room 138. 

Shizuo nodded his thanks and knocked on the door. A slightly familiar voice called out.  
“Come in.”

On the other side of the door, Orihara Izaya winced at his voice again. He woke up only 10 minutes ago, and realized that someone had brought him to the hospital while he was unconscious. The last person he talked to was Shinra, but if he went to check up on him he wouldn’t need to be in the hospital. Maybe Shinra was out of town and he’d gotten Celty to help, Izaya mused. He glanced at the TV emitting soft background noise. He switched it on out of boredom, but hardly paid it any attention. How strange for him to have a visitor. 

The door opened, and he turned his head slowly, still unable to sit up.  
Shizuo pushed open the door softly, took one look at the occupant, and his face immediately contorted into one of absolute surprise. Even through the blur caused by fatigue, he recognized the slim figure in the bed.

That’s it.

That’s the catch, with an almost equally surprised face looking up at him.

“Flea?”

“…Shizu-chan?”

“What are you doing here!?” The nurse jumped a little, startled at Shizuo’s tone. She got up and carefully peeked in. “Is everything ok?”

“Now, now, Shizu-chan, you’ve scared the poor nurse.” Izaya smirked slightly, recovering from the initial surprise at an astounding rate, earning a glare from Shizuo. 

“Sorry ‘bout that.” He went over to the door, and tried to smile reassuringly at the nurse. The look of uncertainty on her face told him that he had failed miserably. “Everything’s fine, trust me. I uh… know this guy.” Shizuo added as an attempt to calm the nurse down. She nodded reluctantly and he closed the door softly.

That being done, he turned back and walked towards Izaya. “What一” he repeated, quieter this time, glaring down at Izaya, “一are you doing here?”

Izaya looked up calmly at the figure above him. “Just a case of food poisoning, that’s all.” Looks like I won’t be able to rest after all.

Shizuo growled and rubbed his face in annoyance and exhaustion. “Listen let’s just get this over with. I need your insurance card and stuff.” He didn’t want to start a fight in a hospital, and both of them were in no condition to fight anyway.

“It’s in my wallet.” The information broker gestured to his trademark fur-lined jacket hanging on a coat hanger. Shizuo fumbled with the hanger as Izaya struggled to sit up, grunting. He ended up with only his head and upper back resting against the headboard of the hospital bed. It wasn’t a big improvement from his previous position, but it enabled him to reach the jacket Shizuo quietly handed to him. He looked through his jacket in as few movements as he could, feeling sluggish. He finally took out his wallet from one of the pockets. Izaya frowned at his shaking hands, willing them to stop as he tried in vain to get the insurance card. The protozoan standing next to him clicked his tongue softly and slid the card easily out of the slot. Izaya glared at him, displeased that he needed the brute’s help.

Shizuo held up the card, trying to read the fine print, but found that he couldn’t. He shook his head, trying to clear his vision.

“My, my, Shizu-chan, you look terrible.” Izaya’s voice was still smaller than usual, but he could be heard clearly in the hospital room. He smirked at him, taking in the dark circles under Shizuo’s eyes and how he seemed to be swaying slightly. The man in the bartender suit laughed.

“I don’t want to hear that from someone who looks like shit.” He put the card back into Izaya’s wallet, muttering what sounded like “forget it, it’s just the damned flea’s anyway”.

“Who knew you’d been in Room 138…” Shizuo muttered off-handedly as he set the wallet down.

“Well, it coincidentally corresponds to my name.” Izaya chuckled, sliding down to rest his head on his pillow. He was starting to drift off. Shizuo noticed the TV. “What are you watching?" 

"It’s Shrek,” he answered, not particularly interested. To his surprise, Shizuo sat down on the chair next to his bed and began watching silently. He really is like a kid…

After a few minutes of watching the green ogre and his party set off on a merry adventure, Shizuo’s eyelids began to feel heavier. Before falling asleep, he spared a glance at the flea. Izaya was already asleep, head turned to one side, breathing softly. His black jacket was still resting on his chest. Shizuo couldn’t help but think he actually looked like a decent person with such a peaceful expression.

He still loathed the idea of sharing a room with him for a whole night though, but he couldn’t even muster the energy to stand, let alone walk home. The flea seemed like he wouldn’t be able to try anything anyway, still looking pale as a sheet.

He sighed, thankful that he already left the information with the nurse, before letting his eyelids shut completely and resigned to the sweet temptation of slumber.

一一****一一

The nurse at the station looked at the clock, growing worried. The nice volunteer had gone in an hour ago, did anything happen to them? She remember the tension earlier and decided to take a peek, fearing for the worst.

What greeted her, however, was the sight of two grown men getting some much-needed sleep, with the TV still turned on. The patient on his bed, the volunteer sitting in the chair. She smiled and turned off the hospital TV, leaving quietly and closing the door behind her.  
They finally got their rest after all.

**Author's Note:**

> Based on a prompt.
> 
> I wrote this last year, and decided to post it here on a whim. I'm kinda curious what's it like to post a fanfic here so this happened! 
> 
> This is actually my first published fanfic so I'm a little nervous =v=" Hope you enjoyed this story! Comments are greatly appreciated.


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